An investigation of the generalizability of the Houghton and Neck Revised Self‐Leadership Questionnaire to a Chinese context

Purpose Seeks to examine the psychometric properties and construct validity of the Houghton and Neck Revised Self‐Leadership Questionnaire (RSLQ) in a Chinese context. Design/methodology/approach The RSLQ was administered to 559 Chinese employees of a large petroleum transportation company. Analyses included reliability assessments, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and tests of association with creativity and performance. Findings The RSLQ did not uniformly generalize to a Chinese context. The best fitting model included the self‐leadership dimensions of goal‐setting, visualizing successful performance, self‐talk, self‐reward, and self‐punishment. The modified RSLQ was positively associated with creativity and in‐role performance. Research limitations/implications Although this study supports some components of self‐leadership generalizing to a Chinese context, the results suggest that further validation work is required on the RSLQ. Practical implications Managers will be well served to understand which dimensions of self‐leadership are generalizable across cultures, and how to measure the existence and development of such practices. Originality/value This research makes a significant contribution to research on self‐leadership by investigating the generalizability of the RSLQ to working adults in a non‐Western culture.